Vera Bushwack

April 22, 2024
Burwash’s confident debut aches with joy and pain. Drew, a tough and suspicious “bushwacker,” is determined to build a cabin in the woods on their own. Flanked by their dog Pony, Drew cuts down trees, salvages wood from an abandoned house, swims and fishes in the nearby lake, and accepts coffee, chats, and chain saw lessons from a local lumberjack. The experience of sheer physical power—revving the chain saw, straddling a motorcycle, gunning a truck—inspires fantasies that break free of common sense and panel borders. In one, Drew transforms into “Vera Bushwack” and rides rodeo in nothing but fringed backless chaps, wielding power tools over their head. Drew’s phone conversations with their close friend Ronnie and flashbacks to traumatic moments in their pre-wilderness life hint at the motivations behind their pursuit of total freedom—“It can feel impossible to feel safe,” Drew confesses to their lumberjack neighbor at one point—but the book doesn’t push for dramatic disclosures. Instead, Burwash observes Drew’s quest with keen curiosity, detailing each skill learned and portraying each day as a step closer to a goal. Burwash’s fine, clean lines sketch out vibrant characters and loose natural vistas, capturing the texture of dark, buggy nights and mud-streaked afternoons. Readers will relish this fresh and unforced celebration of a wild and precious life.

July 1, 2024
Drew is determined to build a totally independent life. They have their dog, Pony, their motorcycle, Vera, and plans for erecting a cabin on their plot of woodland, where they can live alone. This will let Drew avoid people like the creepy former professor who keeps sending them texts (texts he probably doesn't want his wife to see) as well as traumatic events from their past. It also allows them the freedom to bathe naked in the river without care. Drew copes with occasional obstacles or hurtful people by indulging in fantasy scenarios where they go on a chainsaw-wielding rampage, usually while on horseback and mostly naked except for a pair of assless chaps. The art in these moments perfectly captures the vicious glee on Drew's face and the power of the fantasy in their suddenly very heavily muscled torso. The art's exuberance and sketch-like quality bring to mind webcomics like Nimona or Hark! A Vagrant. At turns humorous and brutally frank, the book is a beautifully messy, empowering journey to self-fulfillment and healing.

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